Sufism

IAS promotes education through a variety of methods, including academic classes, lectures, conferences and Sufi gatherings. IAS offers classes, lectures, and workshops on Sufism, Psychology, Music and Poetry, Interfaith issues, and many other subjects in the San Francisco Bay Area, Greater Seattle Area, and throughout the United States and the world.

The Institute for Sufi Studies (ISS) is a collaborative effort that invites people from around the world with the common interest of Sufism to join together for research and study of this ancient wisdom. ISS is an educational department of the International Association of Sufism (IAS). The Institute for Sufi Studies offers classes directly through its center, on-line through the Internet, and at other educational institutions. The faculty are all practitioners of Sufism and teachers in many diverse disciplines, including religion, literature, psychology, philosophy, sociology, and physics.

These articles are valuable tools to aid you in your exploration of the meaning of Sufism. They contain universal truths written by Sufi leaders and scholars.

“Tasawouf, or Sufism, is the esoteric school of Islam, founded on the pursuit of spiritual truth as a definite goal to attain: the truth of understanding reality as it truly is, as knowledge, and so achieving ma’arefat. In Tasawouf when we speak of understanding or cognition we refer to that perfect self-understanding that leads to the understanding of the Divine.”

If you would like to submit an article for consideration, please send an email to articles@ias.org. Be sure to include your name, curriculum vitae, and text of article.